The Riot is the fifth of Laura Wilson's historical crime novels featuring DI Ted Stratton, and I've read them all, though I've only reviewed three of them on here -- they were Stratton's War (which won the Crime Writers Association Historical Dagger Award in 2008), An Empty Death, and A Willing Victim. As the title of the first one may indicate, the series started at the beginning of World War Two, and they've gradually worked their way forward through time until, with The Riot, we have reached 1958.
I must have said this many times before, but Laura Wilson's ability to evoke a past time period is almost uncannily brilliant. 1958 doesn't really sound all that long ago (well, to me it doesn't, anyway) but my goodness how things have changed since then. This novel takes place in London's Notting Hill, where Stratton has been moved to from his previous manor in the West End.
Now you may know that today, Notting Hill is one of the most expensive areas of London. Its large Victorian houses gleam with fresh paint, and there are enough coffee shops, wine bars, posh restaurants and boutiques to satisfy the most demanding consumers. But in the 1950s, the area had become a slum. The houses were split into multiple occupancy dwellings of the the most basic kind, rented out by slum landlords such as Peter Rachman. Prostitution was rife, and an influx of West Indian immigrants were uneasily attempting to start new lives, much to the discomfort of the existing inhabitants. Racial tension smouldered away, and, as the summer brought a seemingly endless heatwave, violence increased until, in late August 1958, a full scale riot broke out, lasting over six days, with white 'Teddy boys' -- egged on by the neo-fascist English Defence League -- attacking West Indian homes and businesses.
So much is history, and here it is skilfully adapted and interwoven with the story of Stratton, attempting to settle down in his new posting and to get his head around the various and complex inter-relationships he encounters. He takes pity on a young girl, Irene, who has run away from her abusive step-father and is living with her Caribbean lover who, though charming and plausible on the surface, is actually pimping for another girl and planning to put Irene on the streets. Another woman meanwhile, whose worthless husband has married her for her money and property, is drawn to the excitement and romance of the Caribbean sub-culture, with finally disastrous results.
I think that to combine so much fact with fiction must be quite challenging, but Laura Wilson does it so effortlessly that it becomes entirely convincing. One character is clearly based on, but is not, Peter Rachman, and a high class call girl seems to owe much to the notorious Christine Keeler or Mandy Rice-Davis. And the atmosphere of the time and place is so vividly evoked that I found it quite a strange experience having it juxtaposed with the way Notting Hill is today. And on top of all that, there is dear Ted Stratton, whose life has not been very joyful since he lost his wife in the war and had an intense but ultimately unhappy love affair. At last, thank goodness, things seem to be looking up for him all round and his new lady friend seems to be just what he needs.
Great stuff -- highly recommended.
